Fade Away
by Emerald Riddle
Summary: Harry Potter finally beat Voldemort, but at an ultimate price. Himself. Hermione Granger kneels at his side as they are forced to say their final goodbyes to each other. HarryxHermione. OLD.


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters.**

**Fade Away**

_By Emerald Riddle_

The shadows were slowly swallowing Harry whole. But he tried to keep his eyes on the light. His light. It wasn't the light of the stars, the deceptive moon, or the bright curses being thrown left and right. It was the illuminating aura of the girl at his side, and the warm tears rolling down her soft cheeks.

"Don't cry, Hermione. Please, please don't cry," Harry murmured gently, his bloody fingers catching the tears before they went any further. But more came, faster than the first few. And Hermione's sobs were audible even in the horror of the final battle.

Harry had killed Voldemort, but the Death Eaters remained fighting for what pride and loyalty they had. If he were to come back like last time, they wanted his blessings. Not that he would. Harry had killed him with an Avada Kedrava, he was gone. And he shall never return.

Yet the Dark Lord wasn't leaving this Earth without reaching the goal he set out more than seventeen years to do. Kill Harry Potter. Right before the curse was sent out, he hexed the young warrior. Hexed him to a slow, painful, and incurable death. He created the spell just for Harry. No one else knew how to use it, or stop it.

Hermione fought by his side until the very end. She watched Ron die taking numerous spells for Harry, she watched her friends get tortured, now she was watching as her one true love died slowly with a horrible pain reflected in his eyes. His

beautiful emerald eyes that she can never look into again. His eyes that will never be brightened with happiness, glowing with sorrow, or dimmed with thought. She can only see pain, agony, and regret for not thinking faster.

They will never be married. They can never have kids. They can never celebrate the falling of evil, nor the rising of good. Hermione sobbed harder and held him close, as if to help stop his spirit from leaving her. "Hermione, I love you. Please be happy, be successful, find another, have a family. A nice big family filled with love and books... lots and lots of books..." Harry's voice trailed off as Hermione choked with sad laughter.

"You don't have t-to go, H-Harry... maybe if you try to stay. I read a lot ab-about mi-mind o-o-v-" she stopped in mid sentence and cried harder. Hermione was smart, she knew nothing could help him now. Not even her cleverness, which got them out of so many tight spots before.

Harry held her close so he could hear the faint beating of her heart. Something that could never be heard again from him. "You could become a ghost Harry! Please, just don't leave me alone! I don't even have Ron anymore Harry, please... please..."

No matter how many times she begged, Harry refused. He didn't want to leave her. But death would be a new adventure for him. Just like Dumbledore said many times, including the day he died. And Harry could see them all again. Sirius, Ron, Dumbledore, his mum, his dad, Cedric... Everyone who died because of him. He succeeded. Not in living of course, but he filled his destiny. He killed Voldemort.

Harry laughed and cried with Hermione. She looked at him as if he was mad, why on Earth was Harry laughing? He grabbed her by the shoulders as if to shake her, but instead kissed her.

Then he glared at her with furious happiness. "It's over, Hermione! It's all over! Voldemort is dead! We're all free! I'm free!" He grabbed her by the shoulders, started shaking her roughly, then hugged her so tightly she could hardly breathe. "I'm free, Hermione! I may be dying, but I'm still free! Free of that goddamn Prophecy! Free of all my expectations! FREE of Voldemort! I even get to see my parents again! Cedric, Sirius, Ron, Moody! I get to see Sirius again, Hermione. Sirius," he repeated, as if he still couldn't believe it.

Hermione nodded her head, choking back tears and forcing a smile. "You can see Sirius, Harry. And meet your family. Please tell them I said hi, and thank them for putting such a wonderful son in the world. You're our beacon of hope, Harry. Please tell them that."

"I'll tell them, Hermione. And one day, you'll come too. Not soon I hope, but one day... Then we'll never have to leave each other's side again. Hermione, I'm fading. I can feel it." Harry grimaced as a fresh wave of pain overtook him.

Hermione blinked away the tears and held his clammy hands in her warm ones. "Don't you leave me yet, Potter. Don't you fade on me yet. I need you here. We all need you here. Harry James Potter, I refuse to let you die like this!" she screamed at him, rocking back and forth on her knees hysterically.

"Hermione..." Harry started, rather startled at her outburst. He was feeling weaker and lighter by the second. He couldn't leave her like this, but he really didn't have a choice.

"Don't you 'Hermione' me! You can't die on me now! I LOVE YOU! I TRUSTED YOU," she broke down wailing, " Please don't leave me... please, please, please... I need you here. I'll DIE without you!"

Harry just held her as she struggled to run. He knew Hermione, she would run now and regret it later. Now was all that mattered to her, sometimes she forced herself not to think of the future. It was just too bleak... too horrible to think about. He didn't want that to happen now. There was happiness in her future, she just had to seek it.

"Hermione! You know I would stay if I could. I would never leave you alone, you know that. I love you. I trust you. I know if you work at it, you'll end up happy like you always do. With... or without me." Harry's strength was failing fast. The only thing he had left to cling on to was hope. Even though there was none for him, Hermione needed to embrace what she had. Not try to keep what she lost.

"Harry... Harry, I love you... I'm sorry... Please be happy... whe-when you... go... You'll never fade from my heart... I'm sorry... I can never love anyone but you... But I will wait until we next meet, and I will dream about it until it happens... You will never fade from my heart... Please don't let me fade from yours... Harry please. Don't forget me. Don't forget everyone down here who loves you. Who NEED you. I will think about you every night... And I will remember all the fun you, I, and Ron had. Tell Ron I love him and miss him. He's my brother, Harry... I love him for what he did for you. My two warriors, braver than the whole of Gryffindor. My two warriors, who saved me from a troll after I acted like a snotty brat. My two warriors... who shall never, ever, fade away."

As Hermione said this they clung together and kissed one last time in a field full of death and darkness. But also, a field full of happiness, hope, and one day, light. Harry saw the light that night, not at the end of a tunnel, but in Hermione's eyes as they murmured their last good byes and Harry did Fade Away. The young boy never faded from the hearts of those who fought to

save him, and neither did they fade from his memory as he smiled and took one last breath. A breath that promised the world that Harry Potter could never die, he just went on to the next great adventure a very wise man told him about when he was eleven and in a hospital bed.

Hopefully, that wise man was waiting for him with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his lips. Waiting to finally tell him the words he was desperate to hear since his parents had died. "Welcome home, Harry."

THE END


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